Political analyst: TPP can negotiate for autonomy without being in government

POLITICAL analyst Dr Indira Rampersad says the Tobago People’s Party (TPP) does not have to join the UNC-led coalition government or get ministerial portfolios in the cabinet to negotiate for greater autonomy and other initiatives for the island.

She said there was nothing wrong with the TPP’s decision to retain its identity and simply negotiate with the government to get self-government for Tobago.

The TPP’s Joel Sampson and David Thomas won the Tobago West and East seats, respectively, in the April 28 general election. The PNM had held those two seats since 2015.

The UNC won the overall election with 26 seats while the PNM got 13.

During the campaign, TPP political leader Farley Augustine said if the party won the two Tobago seats, it would place them in an advantageous position to negotiate for autonomy with whichever party formed the government.

He said then, “Tobago, we have an opportunity again to send two people to the Parliament whose focus is not a Cabinet but whose focus is Tobago’s freedom, whose focus is not on a big position but whose focus is on the well-being of the people of Tobago.”

“I want to tell you that from where we stand, cabinet is for fine china. Cabinet is where you place your granny’s best china and you don’t ever use it. You wash it for Christmas and you put them back. Our responsibility, our purpose, is to go there and to negotiate for Tobago a better autonomy bill.”

In a recent post-election interview, TPP deputy political leader Dr Faith Brebnor said the party’s two votes in the Parliament remain independent of the PNM or UNC.

“Our MPs will negotiate outside of the Parliament and vote inside the Parliament for the issues that affect Tobago. We have always maintained that we are not a part of any coalition. There is an executive in Trinidad and an executive in Tobago. The law is clear on how these two should work. In the areas where there is need to be clearer or fairer, we will negotiate outside and vote inside accordingly.”

Rampersad believes the TPP’s position has merit.

“I think their plan for negotiations will work out very well because it was very similar under the NAR (National Alliance for Reconstruction) in the 1995 scenario. They never became UNC. They kept their identity as NAR,” she told Newsday.

“I think it’s better this way because in 1995 they needed those two Tobago seats to form the government because the result of the general election was 17-17-2.”

In the November 6, 1995, general election, the then UNC was able to form a coalition with the two NAR seats in Tobago, enabling UNC leader Basdeo Panday to become the prime minister.

Rampersad said there were no similarities in the scenarios that existed for Tobago in the 1995, 2010 and 2025 general elections.

She said in the 1995 election, the UNC needed the two Tobago seats to split its 17-17 tie with the PNM. But in the May 24, 2010, general election, called more than two years before it was constitutionally due, the Ashworth Jack-led Tobago Organisation of the People went into the election as a coalition partner in the People’s Partnership coalition.

“So it was a pre-election accommodation they had with the TOP.”

The TOP’s successful candidates – Dr Delmon Baker (Tobago West) and Vernella Alleyne-Toppin (Tobago East) were made ministers in the UNC-led coalition administration, which won 29 of the 41 seats in the Parliament.

In the April 28 general election, Rampersad said the TPP contested the Tobago seats on its own while the UNC ran its own campaign with other smaller parties in the coalition of interests.

The senior university lecturer said the TPP’s stance in remaining true to its identity will not affect the government politically.

“The TPP is just as it was before. They are on their own, managing their own affairs. They want to engage the government in negotiations.”

She said she has a lot of faith in negotiations.

“I believe in good, healthy dialogue and the capacity to persuade reasonably. I do it a lot in my capacity as trade union leader.”

Rampersad said so far, she has not seen anything to suggest that the UNC and the she has not seen anything to suggest that the UNC and theAugustine-led TPP are at loggerheads.

“The UNC was not in power but we have not seen any tit for tat even when they were in opposition against the TPP.”

She said although no alliance or accommodation has been announced between the two parties, “I think they will be prepared to sit at the table and work out their differences amicably.”

Rampersad recalled the Prime Minister saying that she would support autonomy for Tobago.

“But what I don’t know is what this entails. It has to be something that is practicable, something that is workable and feasible, that will not be a strain on Trinidad and Tobago but would give Tobago a fair chance.

“This is what they will have to work out because it cannot be that we are giving you a lot of money to run your affairs and you are not bringing anything to the table. So there has to be an exchange and that is why I keep using the word negotiations.”

She said negotiations should ultimately lead to win-win situations for all involved.

“There is a lot of room for that.”

But Rampersad said the TPP needs the UNC.

“The UNC has 26 seats in the House. You don’t need them to break any tie. They can’t be a king maker. There is no need for any of that. So she (Persad-Bissessar) has the upper hand and she has the bargaining chip on her side.

“When negotiating, one side will have an advantage and I think in this case, she has the advantage. How they yield to that advantage and work it out is important because I also think that if you are asking for autonomy and self-government for a little island, you have to be careful about what you are asking for because Tobago is heavily dependent on Trinidad for everything – goods, services, financing.”

Saying autonomy cannot just be about money, Rampersad said, “I need to know what autonomy means, what it is Tobago wants. Currently, the central government gives them there own budget. But if you are asking for more, you have to be able to justify it because money is in short supply.”